High pressure mixing device



June 30, 1959 w. D. JOHNSTON HIGH PRESSURE MIXING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 26, 1957 INVENTOR. Willa. arr/ IAS-f...

June 30, 1959 w. D. JOHNSTN- -HIGH PRESSURE: MIXING `DEvIcE Filed Dec. 26, 1957 l INVENTOR. Willian, Dew-M" lnsm.

United States Patent HIGH PRESSURE MIXING DEVICE William Derrick Johnston, Erie, Pa.

Application December 26, 1957, Serial No. 705,316

4 Claims. (Cl. 259-113) This invention relates to high pressure apparatus and, more particularly, to an improved apparatus for effecting the stirring of a liquid in a high pressure container under extremely high pressure conditions and under temperature conditions which must be closely controlled.

Various devices have been proposed for agitating liquids in high pressure containers. For example, a stirring device actuated by an electrical solenoid controlled by a timer has been suggested in United States Patent No. 2,661,938.

The present invention discloses an improved agitating device and means to oscillate the agitating member therein. In accordance with the present invention, an upright open ended contactor support is provided with means for connecting the support to a hollow bored member having a stirring member extending therefrom and therein, The stirring member is connected to a permanent magnet member inside the bore and a motor mechanism has attached thereto another permanent magnet, the second permanent magnet being disposed in the eld of the first magnet. The motor operates the stirring mechanism b v magnetic connection through the magnetic fields of the first and second magnets. The invention provides for positive and closely controlled stirring or mixing action in both upward and downward directions of movement of the stirring mechanism.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a stirring mechanism which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and ellicient in operation. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved stirring mechanism entirely enclosed within the container space and controllable with precision from outside the container.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method and means for stirring a material in a high pressure container wherein a magnetic field coupling ybetween movable permanent magnets and fixed permanent magnets transmits force from a driving member to a driven member.

With the above and other objects in View, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a stirring device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a broken view of a part of the device shown in Fig. l.

In the drawings, a stirring device according to the invention is shown which in practice may be made to have a capacity of one liter or one quart, for example, or

2,892,620 Patented June 30, 1959 other desired capacity. A frame 112 is shown having an air motor 111 supported on the top thereof. The air motor 111 may be of any suitable conventional design similar to the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2 to be later described. The air motor 111 has a piston rod 113 extending therefrom with a shoulder 138 which engages a cap 134.

In operation, the piston rod 113 is reciprocated up and down by air in the air motor 111 at a predetermined frequency, depending upon the control equipment utilized to control the air. The control equipment for controlling air to the motor 111 may be of any conventional type and may be designed to vary the frequency of the motor to suit the desired application.

The frame 112 includes a member 213 which forms a jacket for the apparatus driven by the air motor 111. The jacket 213 is attached to a top plate 114 by means of circumferentially spaced screws 115 which extend through bores in the jacket 213 and threadably engage the top plate 114. The lower end of the jacket 213 is attached to a bottom plate 224 by means of circumferentially spaced screws which are similar in situation to the screws 115 and perform a similar function.

An intermediate rib 118 is attached to the inner periphery of the jacket 213 by means of circumferentially spaced screws 119. A threaded bore 120 in the bottom plate 224 receives a threaded portion 221 of a tubular cover 121 of a container 122.

A motor cover 123 is in the shape of an inverted cup having its lower end resting on the top plate 114 and having an upper end 129 of the motor 111 attached to the closed end of the cup shaped cover 123 by means of an air pipe t'ting 130 which has a nozzle portion 131 for attaching to a suitable air hose connection or the like. A magnet support tube 133 is preferably made of aluminum, stainless steel, or other non-magnetic material and is attached at its upper end to the cap 134 where it engages the downwardly extending, internally threaded ilange on the cap 134. The cap 134 is, in turn, attached to the piston rod 113 by means of a nut 139. The motor 111 in turn has a threaded member 140 which extends through a bore 151 and the threaded member 140 is locked to the motor 111 by means of nuts 142.

Horseshoe shaped magnets 144 are disposed in spaced openings 145 in the magnet support tube 133 and are locked to the magnet support tube 133 by means of clamp bolts 146. The horseshoe magnets 144 are spaced around the periphery of the magnet support tube 133 and the ends of the legs of the magnets 144 have the polarity North and South as indicated. A stem 158 of the air motor 111 is attached to the cap 134 by means of a plate 152 which is welded to the cap 134. The lower end of the magnet support tube 133 is threaded at 159 to receive a lower collar 169 which has an inwardly directed liange which overlies the magnet support tube 133 and engages a resilient washer member 162, thereby forming a seal.

The upper end of the cover 121 is fixed to and supported in the `rib 118. The cover 121 is hollow and the threaded portion 221 is engaged by a lock nut 191) which has a threaded washer 199 disposed therebetween and a main nut 191 and is engaged by set screws 192.

The main nut 191 is threadably attached to a threaded bore in the top of a body 184 and a seal ring 195 is disposed between a shoulder 196 on the cover 121 and a lower end 197 on the main nut 191. By tightening the set screws 192, the cover 121 is forced upwardly lby the downward force exerted by the ends of the set screws 192 on the washer 199 and a seal is thereby affected by means of the seal ring 195.

The entire device is supported on a stand 200 and shoulders 201 of the body 184 overlie a heat baffle 202,

assenso The heat baille 202 is attached to a top plate 203 of the body 184 by screws 204. The body 184 is made of a heavy strong material such as stainless steel and has a drain opening 206 in the bottom thereof which will be suitably closed by means of a removable plug or the like and a filler opening 207 is provided at the top which will also be suitably plugged during operation. A safety plug 208 which may be made to open at a pressure less than the ultimate pressure of the body 184 is provided.

A magnetic piston 170 is slidably disposed in a bore 211 in the hollow cover 121 and freely slides up and down therein. T he magnetic piston 170 is made up of a permanent magnet having a north pole adjacent the south pole on the horseshoe magnets 144 and a south pole adjacent the north pole on the horseshoe magnets 144. A dasher or agitator 213a is attached to an agitator shaft 214 and the agitator shaft 214 is attached to the magnetic piston 170 at 217.

During operation, when a suitable air supply is connected to the air motor 111, the piston rod 113 will reciprocate up and down at a predetermined rate, carrying with it the permanent magnets 144. The permanent magnets 144 will, through magnetic induction, result in a force on the magnetic piston 17S) and reciprocate it up and down in the bore 211. The magnetic piston 170, being attached to the agitator shaft 214, will reciprocate the agitator 21351 therewith up and down to agitato any material which may be disposed in a sealed cavity 215 ofthe body 184,

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2, a stirring device is shown having an air motor 11 supported on the top of a frame The air motor 11 may be of any suitable design having conventional internal parts and having a piston rod 13 extending from the motor 11 and being reciprocated by air in the air motor 11 at a predetermined frequency depending upon the control equipment utilized to control the air. The control equipment may be of conventional type and may be designed to vary the frequency to suit the desired application.

The frame 12 is made up of a tube 313 which forms a jacket attached to a top plate 14 by means of circumferentially spaced screws 15 which extend through bores in the tube 313 and threadably engage the top plate 14. The top plate 14 may have a peripheral groove 16 cut in the outer surface thereof to receive the upper end of the frame 12, The lower end of the tube 313 is attached to a bottom plate 24 by means of circumferentially spaced screws 25 which are similar to the screws 15 and perform a similar function.

An intermediate rib 18 is attached to the inner periphery of the tube 313 by means of circumferentially spaced screws 19. A centrally disposed threaded bore 20 in the bottom plate 24 receives a tubular cover 21 of a container 22. A motor cover 23 is in the shape of a cup shaped member having its lower ends resting on the top plate 14 at 28 and having an upper end 29 of the motor 11 attached to thc closed end of the cover 23 by means of an air pipe fitting 30 which has a nozzle portion 31 for attaching to a suitable air connection or air hose.

A magnet support tube 33 is preferably made of aluminum, stainless steel, or other non-magnetic material and is attached at its upper end to a cap 34 by means of circumferentially spaced studs 35. The cap 34 is, in turn, attached to the piston rod 13 by having a reduced threaded end 36 which extends through a hole 37 in the cap 34 and is locked against a shoulder 38 by means of a nut 39 which is received on the threaded end 36. The motor 11 in turn has a threaded member 40 extending from the lower end thereof concentric to the piston rod 13. The threaded member 40 is received in a bore 41 in the top plate 14 and is locked thereto by means of a nut 42.

Horseshoe shaped magnets 44 are disposed in a spaced opening 45 in the magnet support tube 33 and are locked thereto by means of clamp bolts 46. The horseshoe mag- 4 l nets 44 are spaced around the periphery of the magnet support tube 33 and the ends of legs 47 and 48 have the polarity North and South as indicated, respectively. A stem S8 of the air motor 11 is attached to the cap 34 by means of a plate 52 which is welded to the cap 34. The lower end of the magnet support tube 33 is threaded at 59 to receive a lower collar 60 which has an inwardly directed ange 61 which underlies the end of the magnet support tube 33 and engages a resilient washer member 62.

An upper end 64 of the cover 21 has a plug 65 received in a threaded counterbore in the end thereof which closes the upper end of a bore 66 therein. The upper end 64 is held in alignment in a centrally disposed bore 67 in the rib 18 and is held against lateral movement by a hub 68.

A non-magnetic piston tube 69 made of stainless steel, brass, aluminum, or other non-magnetic material contains permanent bar magnets 70 and 71 which are disposed in the non-magnetic tube 69 with unlike poles of the magnets 70 and 71 adjacent as shown; that is, with the south pole of one magnet adjacent the north pole of the other magnet. By having the unlike poles of the magnets 70 and 71 adjacent each other, a magnetic eld llux distribution is obtained and when the field of the magnets 44 is imposed thereon, an elastic magnetic connection between the motor 11 and stirring device 10 results.

A helical compression type spring 73 is disposed in the bore 66 having one end abutting against the plug 65 and the other end 74 abutting against the magnet support tube 69. A similar helical spring 75 is disposed in the bore 66 below the lower end of the tube 69 as shown with one end abutting against the end of the tube 69 and the other end abutting against a collar 77.

The lower end of the tube 69 has a non-magnetic plug therein and the non-magnetic plug may be attached to the tube 69 by soldering or other means. The nonmagnetic plug 80 has a threaded hole 81 therein which threadably receives the threaded upper end of a stern 82 of the stirring device 10. The stirring device 10 has an agitator member 83 on the lower end thereof which extends into a vessel 84.

When air is applied to the motor 11 from a suitable source of compressed air, the motor 11 will cause the piston rod 13 to oscillate up and down. This will carry with it the magnet support tube 33 having the permanent magnets 44 attached thereto. Since the north poles of the permanent magnets 44 will tend to repel the north poles of the permanent magnets 70 and 71 inside the tube 69 and, on the other hand, attract the south poles thereof, the tube 69 will tend to follow the magnets 44 up and down and, therefore, follow the stroke of the piston rod 13 carrying with it the agitator member 83 at the same frequency as the motor 11. The magnetic field connec tion between the magnets 44 and the magnets 70 and 71 gives a resilient absorbing connection therebetween and, also, gives a very positive connection therebetween.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu- Isive property or privilege is claimed are defined as folows:

l. Apparatus for stirring a sealed container comprising a vessel closed at the bottom and open at the upper end the-reof, head means attached to said container, an axial bore extending through said head means and closed at its upper end, a plunger type mixing assembly in said vessel, a shaft in said bore and attached to said plunger assembly, a horseshoe shaped rst permanent magnet attached to said shaft and movable in said bore, a second permanent magnet disposed within the magnetic field adjacent the ends of said first permanent magnet, and

motor means attached to said second permanent magnet moving said second permanent magnet parallel to said bore whereby said mixing assembly is moved by force of the elds of said magnets on each other.

2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said head means comprises a tubular member closed at the distal end and having an open end attached to said vessel with said axial bore communicating with the inside of said vessel.

3. Apparatus for stirring la material in a sealed container comprising `a container, a cavity in said container, an open side on said container, said container having a main nut with an external threaded opening disposed in registration with said container opening, a hollow tubular closure having a bore therethrough closed at one end and an open end, said closure extending into said container, an outer nut `disposed around said tubular closure, an upwardly directed shoulder on said tubular closure, packing means disposed between said outer nut and said container, said outer nut threadably engaging said main nut, a magnet support tube disposed concentric to said tubular closure, openings in said magnet support tube, circfumferentially spaced horseshoe magnets attached to said magnet support tube and extending through said openings therein, the poles of each said horseshoe magnet being disposed in a plane parallel to the bore in said tubular closure, reciprocating motor means attached to said magnet support tube, a bar magnet in said tubular closure adjacent said horeshoe magnets, an agitator in said container, and a shaft attached to said agitator at one end and to said bar magnet at the other end thereof, each of the poles of said bar magnet being disposed adjacent unlike poles of said horseshoe magnets whereby said bar magnet is attracted to follow the reciprocating motion of said horseshoe magnets.

4. Apparatus for stirring a material in =a sealed container comprising `a container, a cavity in said container, an open side on said container, said container having a main nut with an external threaded opening disposed in registration with said container opening, a hollow tubular closure having a bore therethrough closed at one end and an open end, said closure extending into said container, a magnet support tube `disposed concentric to said tubular closure, openings in said magnet support tube, oircumferentially spaced horseshoe magnets attached t0 said magnet support tube and extending through said openings therein, the poles of each said horseshoe magnet being disposed in a plane parallel Ito said bore in said tubular closure, reciprocating motor means attached to said magnet support tube, a bar magnet in said tubular closure adjacent said horseshoe magnets, an agitator in said container, and a shaft attached to said agitator at one end and to said bar magnet at the other end thereof, each of the poles of said bar magnet being disposed adjacent unlike poles of said horseshoe magnets whereby said bar magnet is attracted to follow the reciprocating motion of said horseshoe magnets.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,724,272 Ford Aug. 13, 1929 1,847,006 Kalischer Feb. 23, 1932 2,425,691 Brewer Aug. 12, 1947 2,661,938 Kuentzel Dec. 8, 1953 

